On January 26, Viktor Dolidze, Georgia’s state minister on European and Euro-Atlantic integration, declared that his country will “probably” not participate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) upcoming May summit at the new Headquarters, in Brussels (iPress.ge, January 26). Dolidze’s vague clarification raised eyebrows... MORE

Russia’s increased engagement in the Libyan civil war, in particular the “attention” that the Kremlin is paying to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, one of the conflict’s major actors since the ousting of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, has not gone unnoticed by the Italian government (Repubblica,... MORE

Minsk continues to drift away from Moscow. Among the most recent indications of this trend was President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s remark about “wars for independence” during his meeting with university professors. “We obtained independence very cheaply,” said Lukashenka. “All peoples fought for it like our brothers... MORE

Since Alyaksandr Lukashenka became president of Belarus over two decades ago, Moscow has consistently viewed his country as its ally, difficult at times but one that, when the chips were down, would be in Russia’s corner. The West, meanwhile, has routinely denounced him as the... MORE

The strategically placed Gotland is the largest island in the Baltic Sea, with an area of 3,183.7 square kilometers—that is, slightly smaller than California’s Sacramento county. The island is situated 330 km from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast and 110 km from the Swedish... MORE

The South Caucasus region has been undergoing a new polarization, with Armenia and Iran increasingly facing off together against Azerbaijan and Israel. Last December’s visits by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Baku and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Yerevan are indicative of this trend.... MORE

Moldovan President Igor Dodon’s visit to the Kremlin (see EDM, January 26) fell short of its main goal—that of strengthening Dodon’s and his Socialist Party’s position in Moldovan domestic politics. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s high popularity in Moldova could have helped Dodon’s political fortunes significantly... MORE

For Moscow, the first ten days of Donald Trump’s presidency raised enough uncertainty and speculation about his political course in general and intentions regarding Russia in particular to fill the usual benchmark of 100 days. Russian pundits now promise few if any miracles for their... MORE

Moldovan President Igor Dodon chose Moscow for his visit abroad, following his election on an aggressively pro-Russia program and an invitation from President Vladimir Putin (see accompanying article). Staged by the Kremlin as a high-profile event on January 16–19, the visit occasioned a snapshot of... MORE

Moldova’s recently elected, vocally pro-Russia head of state, Igor Dodon, paid an official visit to President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, on January 16–19. It was an unusually long and elaborately staged affair for the president of a small pauper state. The Kremlin used the visit... MORE